Troy man sentenced to 20 years for child porn

Victims were 5, 15 years old

For the Troy Daily News

DAYTON — Shawn Whitaker, 32, of Troy was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 240 months in prison for creating child pornography of a 5-year-old and a 15-year-old.

United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio Benjamin C. Glassman, Angela L. Byers, special agent in charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Division, and Troy Police Chief Charles Phelps announced the sentence handed down today by U.S. District Judge Walter H. Rice.

According to court documents, from at least November 2016 until March 2017, Whitaker engaged in a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old female. Whitaker recorded their intercourse on his iPhone and also took multiple sexually explicit photographs of the minor.

Law enforcement officials searched Whitaker’s electronic devices as part of the investigation into the conduct involving this victim and discovered additional child pornography.

Further investigation revealed that, in October 2016, Whitaker had also created child pornography of a 5-year-old girl. Investigators discovered 21 pictures of the victim in various states of undress and multiple close-up images of the girl nude. Whitaker took these photographs at his residence in Troy and instructed the girl how to pose for these pictures.

Whitaker pleaded guilty in November 2017 to two counts of producing child pornography.

U.S. Attorney Glassman commended the investigation of this case by the FBI and Troy Police Department, as well as Assistant United States Attorney Amy M. Smith, who is representing the United States in this case.